Wakehurst Place
Originally uploaded by Megan Shields.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Kew with a difference - Wakehurst Place
Nicola and I did a wee trip out to Wakehurst Place - taking advantage of my Kew membership and her National Trust membership - free entry for the both of us!
It was a lovely garden - very different from Kew. If only because there aren't millions of planes flying low over as they come in to land at Heathrow! But much less busy, and definitely a bit more 'wild' in places. We had a lovely couple of hours strolling around, followed by an extremely delicious coffee and cake - it has to be done after a bit of garden admiring!
It is also the home of the Millennium Seed Bank which we had a wee wander through. Obviously not looking at the real seeds, but they had a nice atrium with some quite good displays on the importance of seeds. I'd definitely like to get back there - its just not quite as convienient for me as Kew - you need a car...
More photos on Flickr (as always...)
It was a lovely garden - very different from Kew. If only because there aren't millions of planes flying low over as they come in to land at Heathrow! But much less busy, and definitely a bit more 'wild' in places. We had a lovely couple of hours strolling around, followed by an extremely delicious coffee and cake - it has to be done after a bit of garden admiring!
It is also the home of the Millennium Seed Bank which we had a wee wander through. Obviously not looking at the real seeds, but they had a nice atrium with some quite good displays on the importance of seeds. I'd definitely like to get back there - its just not quite as convienient for me as Kew - you need a car...
More photos on Flickr (as always...)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Two movies...
So this week I've been to two movies - first time I've been in ages, and then two come along at once!
First of all I finally went to see Star Trek - ages after most of my friends, but I got there eventually. And I loved it - thought it was really well done. Spok and Kirk were both VERY good, and as a long time watcher of Star Trek I came away happy. And looking forward to future movies.
Today I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - which I also really enjoyed. I was particularly excited to see Surbiton station play a role in the first few scenes. And I picked it as Surbiton before they showed the station name! I know my 'hood...
I've read a couple of reviews of the film since I got back, and I think had I read the book recently I may have been disappointed with the film as it has obviously missed a lot of stuff out. I did think the battle scene at the end was a bit different, and there was a crucial detail in that which they didn't include in the film - not sure why. But I did enjoy it - lots of Snape who is one of my fave characters - although if you go, I hope you haven't read the book recently!
First of all I finally went to see Star Trek - ages after most of my friends, but I got there eventually. And I loved it - thought it was really well done. Spok and Kirk were both VERY good, and as a long time watcher of Star Trek I came away happy. And looking forward to future movies.
Today I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - which I also really enjoyed. I was particularly excited to see Surbiton station play a role in the first few scenes. And I picked it as Surbiton before they showed the station name! I know my 'hood...
I've read a couple of reviews of the film since I got back, and I think had I read the book recently I may have been disappointed with the film as it has obviously missed a lot of stuff out. I did think the battle scene at the end was a bit different, and there was a crucial detail in that which they didn't include in the film - not sure why. But I did enjoy it - lots of Snape who is one of my fave characters - although if you go, I hope you haven't read the book recently!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
What a walk it was in the Peak District
Cor - currently recovering from an epic day of walking yesterday in the Peak District. I was meant to be rollerblading today, but I had to pull out. I barely had the energy and inclination to walk to the supermarket and back!
I think it is fair to say that Craig and I learnt many lessons - I just wishing learning the lessons wasn't so exhausting!
Craig had suggested going up to the Peak District for a night a few weeks ago. Camp one night, walk on Friday and a big one on Saturday then back down to London on Sat night. He had a new GPS gizmo he wanted to test, and I’ve always wanted to go to the Peak District (try and meet my Mr Darcy!) so I was very keen. Turned out to be just us as everyone else was busy – they missed a real treat!
Read on for epic adventures in the Peak District... And lots more photos on Flickr as well!
I think it is fair to say that Craig and I learnt many lessons - I just wishing learning the lessons wasn't so exhausting!
- Don't ever not stop for lunch because 'we'll be back in the village in an hour and we can get lunch then...'. That old chestnut 'famous last words' comes into play...
- Don't step into peaty bogs - especially don't do it twice. Like quicksand (I imagine), it ain't that easy to get out of.
- Don't assume that because a trail is marked on an OS map that it will look like a well defined path in real life.
- Do use your common sense at times - you may have a whizzy gizmo gadget, but when you see people walking in the distance, and also a cairn, that is a pretty good clue that there will be a path over there...
Craig had suggested going up to the Peak District for a night a few weeks ago. Camp one night, walk on Friday and a big one on Saturday then back down to London on Sat night. He had a new GPS gizmo he wanted to test, and I’ve always wanted to go to the Peak District (try and meet my Mr Darcy!) so I was very keen. Turned out to be just us as everyone else was busy – they missed a real treat!
Read on for epic adventures in the Peak District... And lots more photos on Flickr as well!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
A loop around Edale...
Craig had mapped out a route which was circular around Edale. We took in Mam Tor - but were there way too early to see all of the paragliders who were there when we drove home that evening.
We then took in Kinder Scout which was fantastic and then around to Kinder Fall. It was a fantastic walk - stunning scenery, and it took in so many different landscapes. Rolling peak hills, then a fantastic moon like landscape with incredible rock formations all around. Enroute to Kinder Scout I stepped into a bog (just as Craig told me not to). Straight in, up to my knee and it was stuck fast. Craig tried pulling me out but my leg wasn't moving... At one point I was worried my boot would come off! In the end I gave up and sat down on the boggy edge and pulled my leg out that way. Thank heavens for gaiters and quick drying walking trou!
We were fine up to Kinder Falls. Then it all went a bit pearshaped... The path we were looking for (as it turned out), wasn't a well defined path, but needed to be followed with a compass bearing. Which would have been fine, except we hadn't realised that, so kept finding the path and losing it again (which we couldn't understand why), then it started to rain on and off, and we spent about 1 and 3/4 hours cris-crossing the peaty bog, going up and down boggy bits, trying to work out how to get where we knew we needed to be. Its fair to say we both got VERY stressed at times, but finally we did work it out. However this was all done on no lunch (see top post) and after setting off walking at about 8.10am, we got back to the village of Edale at 4.15pm. It was a very long, very hard day of walking, but it was great. Oh - except for the bit when I fell in the bog again... this time, both legs in, up to my knees.... Can't say it was any more fun the second time.
After another meal at the Nag's Head we then had to drive back to London - well Craig did. We were both knackered - it was a very long day!
We then took in Kinder Scout which was fantastic and then around to Kinder Fall. It was a fantastic walk - stunning scenery, and it took in so many different landscapes. Rolling peak hills, then a fantastic moon like landscape with incredible rock formations all around. Enroute to Kinder Scout I stepped into a bog (just as Craig told me not to). Straight in, up to my knee and it was stuck fast. Craig tried pulling me out but my leg wasn't moving... At one point I was worried my boot would come off! In the end I gave up and sat down on the boggy edge and pulled my leg out that way. Thank heavens for gaiters and quick drying walking trou!
We were fine up to Kinder Falls. Then it all went a bit pearshaped... The path we were looking for (as it turned out), wasn't a well defined path, but needed to be followed with a compass bearing. Which would have been fine, except we hadn't realised that, so kept finding the path and losing it again (which we couldn't understand why), then it started to rain on and off, and we spent about 1 and 3/4 hours cris-crossing the peaty bog, going up and down boggy bits, trying to work out how to get where we knew we needed to be. Its fair to say we both got VERY stressed at times, but finally we did work it out. However this was all done on no lunch (see top post) and after setting off walking at about 8.10am, we got back to the village of Edale at 4.15pm. It was a very long, very hard day of walking, but it was great. Oh - except for the bit when I fell in the bog again... this time, both legs in, up to my knees.... Can't say it was any more fun the second time.
After another meal at the Nag's Head we then had to drive back to London - well Craig did. We were both knackered - it was a very long day!
Friday, July 10, 2009
It began on Friday...
I set off from work on Friday at midday to go and meet Craig at his work. The plan was we would get to Edale, put up our tents (I borrowed mine from Simon’s sister), and then go for a short walk before having dinner in the pub. Ah – the best laid plans…
It was all fine until we got past Junction 25 on the M1. At that point we realised we weren’t slow because of the road works but because there had been an accident between Junction 26 and 27. Too late for us…. About 1.5 hours later (but it felt like much longer), we got to the exit at 26 and headed off. Traffic was still pretty slow though, and a 4 hour trip turned into 7.5 hours. We got to the campsite just after 7pm… It was my first experience of being stuck in traffic like that – I’ve always been lucky and been driving past it in the other direction. Can’t say that I would recommend it.
We got the tents up fairly quickly at the Fieldhead campsite (Craig has used his, but aside from a short demo I hadn’t put mine up properly before) then we headed off to the pub for dinner. It was a two pub town – we ate at the The Nags Head which was fairly standard fare. It is also officially the start of the Pennine Way. We probably would have stayed there but a big group in the other room started singing… What was cute for a couple of songs just turned plain annoying after about 6 or 7 numbers. So we headed off to the Ramblers Inn for another pint and a whisky before bed. Also very underwhelmed with that pub as well - despite its name it was pretty mediocre.
It was all fine until we got past Junction 25 on the M1. At that point we realised we weren’t slow because of the road works but because there had been an accident between Junction 26 and 27. Too late for us…. About 1.5 hours later (but it felt like much longer), we got to the exit at 26 and headed off. Traffic was still pretty slow though, and a 4 hour trip turned into 7.5 hours. We got to the campsite just after 7pm… It was my first experience of being stuck in traffic like that – I’ve always been lucky and been driving past it in the other direction. Can’t say that I would recommend it.
We got the tents up fairly quickly at the Fieldhead campsite (Craig has used his, but aside from a short demo I hadn’t put mine up properly before) then we headed off to the pub for dinner. It was a two pub town – we ate at the The Nags Head which was fairly standard fare. It is also officially the start of the Pennine Way. We probably would have stayed there but a big group in the other room started singing… What was cute for a couple of songs just turned plain annoying after about 6 or 7 numbers. So we headed off to the Ramblers Inn for another pint and a whisky before bed. Also very underwhelmed with that pub as well - despite its name it was pretty mediocre.
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